Awkward encounters
by FleurMiroir
Summary: In which two former classmates meet again, ten years after high school, not quite forgetting the one time Seto tried to ask her out.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N**: This is a bit of a re-vamp of a previous I posted. I wasn't really happy about the story was unfolding, so I've decided to write it with the idea I had originally in mind for the plot. For a bit of background, both story and characterisation are based on the sub version as I'm not a fan of what the dub did with the characters and all their nuances that were lost in translation._

* * *

Seto wasn't exactly keen on spending the night at the Opera, when he could have got some work done in the quiet of his hotel room. Unfortunately for him and his plans, Mokuba had been unusually persistent for him to come long. He'd argued it'd rude towards their business partners, who had kindly offered the tickets, not to go and according to whom going to the Palais Garnier to see a representation of Le Sacre du Printemps was a must see in one's life time.

Seto had to admit the auditorium was nice, its red velvet alley, marble columns and gold leaf detailing… Quite the change of scenery from Japan. He still had rather be in his hotel tonight than do this cliché tourist activities. While he had acquired a taste for classical music over the years, he preferred to listen to it while working, alone his office or study, or while relaxing in the comfort his couch with a glass of fine liquor. When it came to leisure time, he'd rather avoid places like this, like the Opera. They were usually full of business acquaintances and the likes, potential business partners or socialites attending for networking purposes, or for the ridiculous sake of feigning a refined and cultured public image.

Not quite the ideal place to recharge after a day of endless meetings and interviews at the dawn of their new amusement's park opening. The last line was always the most stressful and mentally draining, Seto found, but it was almost the most crucial in terms of communication, building the the hype and then not failing to meet the expectations built around said hype. Exporting Kaiba Land to Europe was a pretty big step and a bit of gamble, but Kaiba didn't see himself as a gambler, but a visionary, rather. It had taken a lot of negotiations and tremendous hours of market research to convince his shareholders, investors and everyone involve to implement a Japanese themed park in France. Dueling wasn't as popular as it was in America or Japan in Europe, but with the recent booming of geek culture and manga consumption, Kaiba could see a clear opportunity there. Besides, the city was full of tourists. This surely was going to be a big step for his brand in Europe. Though, he couldn't wait to get past the pressure the inauguration the opening of the park had put on him so he could focus on his next project in Japan. This had been an exhausting journey.

Mokuba, on the other hand, looked uncharacteristically enthusiastic about this ballet, to his elder brother's greatest surprise. He'd never known his brother to have any interest in high arts. And he didn't expect that much to change.

At least, he supposed this outing would save them from another argument about Mokuba's new fancy for partying and excessive drinking with questionable acquaintances, and all those college life's habits Seto wasn't exactly fond of, to say the least. This wasn't what he had imagined when his brother had been accepted to Todai. Was this really what the average life of university looked like these days? Isono had reassured him there was nothing to be overly concerned about Mokuba's new habits, so long as he wasn't failing or getting in trouble, his own son had apparently been the same with the partying. Seto had rather his brother put his leisure time to more productive activities and hobbies, which preferably wouldn't present any potential risks for public scandals and tarnishing the Kaiba's reputation. Unfortunately, the two brothers did not seem eye-to-eye on this matter, a divergence that led to regular clashes.

His departure to Tokyo for college life had certainly changed the little boy he'd looked after for most his life. Mokuba was an adult now, he was a man. He'd made another life of his own of which Seto wasn't part of. He knew this would not revoke or alter the bond they shared, but it wouldn't be the same as before, that much he was painfully aware of. As much as he hated to admit, the thought of his brother slowly drifting away, of his new life and friends overshadowing him, did scare him. Going back to an empty mansion at night – save for the house employees -, eating supper alone in the dining room, were all new habits he was having a hard time growing accustomed to…

He tried to shake the thoughts from his head as the velvet curtain opened, sinking his seat and resting his chin on his elbow. He might as well enjoy the fact, that for once, his brother and he got to spend time together, in peace and quiet.

Seto initially found it hard to immerse himself in the ballet and its story telling, but as it went on, he found himself taking an interest in observing and appreciating the dancers' skills and technique. He knew very little about dancing, but this surely must have taken a lot of work and discipline to achieve such a performance, that he could admire. Suddenly, it reminded him of her... How long had it been now since high school? Ten years. He wondered what she was up to these days. If she, too, was dancing in a ballet, somewhere in America as she said she wanted to. When Mokuba had first introduced the idea of them going to the Opéra, Seto couldn't say he didn't have a hunch, of sorts, but it seemed a little too far-fetched that Mazaki would be here. America had always been her dream and surely Mokuba would have mentioned her, if she were here.

As the dancers gathered on the stage towards the end of the representation, the entire crowd stood up for a standing ovation. Seto followed mechanically, as if he'd just woken up from a livid slumber, glancing sideways at Mokuba who seemed to have been completely enthralled by the ballet. Again, Seto was quite curious as to what had struck that in him. This whole charade was probably about some random girl, though. Seto saw no other logical explanation.

"That was amazing, wasn't it?" His brother commented as the dancers left the stage and the room started emptying itself.

"It was pretty good." He merely replied.

"Come on. Let's go backstage. There's someone we need to see." Mokuba hurried as they prepared to depart the alley. Seto knew he was of age for this sort of things, but he wasn't exactly thrilled of the prospect of watching his brother's courting endeavours while he just stood there, awkwardly.

It seemed he had no other options anyway as his brother led the way, practically running him out.

He was, nonetheless, mildly curious as to what sort of girl had his brother so taken. Mokuba tended to keep to himself in that regards, not that Seto would complain, but the eldest brother's private life, on the other hand, was a topic of conversation that had become far too recurrent for the latter's liking. Seto knew Mokuba did not mean ill, when he'd ask if he'd met anyone and encouraged him to, he found it quite unnerving still. Why was he so interested, in the first place? And what was so wrong about being single? Seto would lie to say he didn't sometimes long for a companion in his life, but leading a multinational made it very hard to meet that kind of person. First, there was the schedule that it made hard to meet anyone at all. Then, the pedigree, the money, the name which made it hard to meet anyone genuine. Amongst other things.

Seto had long resigned himself he'd likely ended up alone in life, just like how it'd started. And he was fine with it. Kaiba Seto had never and didn't need anyone. Or so he liked to tell himself…

His train of thoughts and various introspective musings were soon abruptly interrupted as they reached the lodges of the dancers. He'd expected anything but this… Maybe a little, but the reality of it was complete shock, to say the least;

"Anzu!" Mokuba exclaimed.

So this wasn't about some trivial fling, after all. Maybe this was worse, on second thought.

"Mokuba, what are you doing here?!" Mazaki replied, her face lightening at the sight of her brother.

"Well, Seto's business partners gave us those tickets and remembering you worked here, we just couldn't miss the occasion." Seto would roll his eyes at the "we", but refrained to. He'd rather keep his part in this conversation to the bare minimum to avoid any sort of awkwardness. He wouldn't even know what to say, in any case. It'd been ten years since he'd last spoken to her and since... well. Water had run under bridges, that he was aware of, but ten years of no communication was a long time. It felt weird to strike a casual conversation, in this context and not really knowing where he and Mazaki stood.

"It's been such a long time!"

"I know! What a surprise. I can't believe you'd come here!" She replied enthusiastically.

"It's good to see you." She added.

"You, too, Kaiba." She finally turned back to him, but what Seto assumed to be hypocritical cordiality was only met with perfect indifference and a mere polite greet. And that was about how long their exchange went. As her attention quickly switched back to Mokuba, it seemed like Seto didn't really exist anymore. But he didn't particularly care. Mazaki was Mokuba's friend. Not the other way around, she'd made that much very clear a long time ago.

As her brother enthused with her friend about old time, Kaiba watched from afar, this time, feeling like a complete stranger and almost like a nuisance in middle of these two, invisible...

Mazaki looked quite changed, he noted. Physically so. She looked much thiner, more toned and muscular as well, than he remembered-not that she'd ever been particularly endowed to begin with. Her traits looked more mature, too. But she looked exhausted. Not the kind of after-a-long-day exhausted, the kind of exhausted Seto sometimes looked himself.

But she still looked so damn pretty.

He was digressing…

"I'm sorry, Mokuba. I wish I could take on your invitation to dinner, but I have commitments tonight. I'm free tomorrow night and the following nights as well, since it was the last representation of the season, though. If you're still around, of course." Seto heard, finally snatched back from his thoughts.

"Don't worry. How about tomorrow night, then? Let's all go to dinner somewhere nice." Mokuba suggested. Seto was unsure why he was suddenly being included in their plans, regardless of whether he liked it or not.

"I'd like that."

Seto did not.

"I'll message you tomorrow, then." Mokuba said, bidding his friend good-bye.

_At last, _Kaiba sighed innerly.

The two Kaiba brothers then made their way out of the opera to a small street nearby, where their driver was waiting for them.

Kaiba released a sigh of exhaustion as they finally got into the car. This day was finally over. Now he could eventually hope to find some quiet and peace back at the hotel, do a bit of work on his laptop, before a second round of business meetings and running around the city tomorrow.

"So, where should we go tomorrow for dinner? I was thinking la Tour d'Argent since we've always wanted to eat there." Mokuba threw in casually, breaking the silence that had settled in the car.

"Hm?" Kaiba raised his head from his phone to look at his brother with a most blazé expression on his face. "I don't know. Why don't you ask your friend, since she's the one going with you."

"Oh, come on now! Don't give me that." Mokuba instantly retorted.

"Give you what, Mokuba." He replied, unamused.

"Acting so extra." Mokuba said with an annoyed frown. "You're going, too. It'll do you good to take your mind off work and socialise. Besides, you two seemed to be getting along pretty fine by the end of high school. If I didn't know any better, I could swear you even had a thing for her." Seto rolled his eyes, unsurprised by his brother's insistence. It would, after all, be out of character for Mokuba just to take 'no' for an answer, in this particular case. And Seto had rather no go in-depth for his reasons to refuse to tag along. He'd rather not recall what had been a terribly awkward and embarrassing moment. This was none of his brother's business, anyway.

"I have work to finish." He replied neutrally, knowing he was probably going regret his choice for an answer.

"Yes, Seto. I know. You _always_ have to work to finish. But do I need to remind you again of what your doctor said, you need to slow down a little or-."

And there they went again.

"I can take care of myself just fine, Mokuba. As I always have. That's enough now." He interrupted yet another conversation he didn't want to have.

"Oh really? Look at you, the moment we got back into the car the first thing you did was checked your emails. Also can you not talk to me like I'm child. It's pretty annoying." His brother continued with tone akin to reprimanding that Seto wasn't liking. At all.

"I'm not having this conversation with you again, Mokuba. Not tonight."

"You need to take this more seriously, Seto. This isn't some joke. This is about your health." He countered with an aggravated grunt. "It's just crazy how you just don't know when to stop or even slow down a little."

"Seriously, I'm worried about you. Isono tells me you still spend most nights in the office and-"

"Fine." He resigned, raising his voice, perhaps a bit louder than intended. "I'll go to that goddamn dinner with you and your friend, if it so pleases you. Will you leave me alone now?" He resigned, finding himself lacking the mental energy to argue any further.

"Yeah." Mokuba leaned against the window without another word.

This night, the ride back to the hotel, felt dreadfully long.


	2. Chapter 2

_A pretty fancy place._ Well, that was clearly quite the understatement, Anzu noted to herself as she walked in, but she had expected nothing less from the Kaiba and this place was renowned to be quite posh, after all.

"Good evening, madame. Do you have a reservation?" A very well-groomed young man, dressed from tip to toe, greeted her.

"I'm joining a friend. Mokuba Kaiba?" The waiter's stern and serious expression quickly fading into a more amiable as soon as she uttered the name 'Kaiba'. Anzu would roll her eyes, if it weren't so improper to do so.

"Ah, yes. This way, please, madame." Anzu followed the man, trying ignore the burning sensation in her feet and not to stumble in her newly bought Zara heels, which may not have been the best choice after a rather hectic season at the Opera. But quite clearly the right one for this kind of place, she reflected, gazing at her surroundings, the old fancy fashion French furniture, the neatly dressed clientele, the patio window with full view on Paris. She had to admit it was quite lovely.

But her initial amazement was soon replaced with nervosity, as they approached a table where Kaiba Seto, and Kaiba Seto all alone, was seated; all dressed up, in a fine, likely expensive, bleu marine suit, with a glass of brandy in one hand and a newspaper in the other. The whole scene almost looked too cliché.

_The hell he was doing here_, she wondered, as the waiter helped her remove her coat.

Given how he'd ignored her the night before, he was the last person she'd expected to see sitting at this table, lest on his own. At the same time, this wasn't all that surprising, for Kaiba had always been a confusing man. Towards the end of high school the two of them had gotten on much friendlier term, sharing the same night classes to pass university tests, exchanging notes when the other couldn't attend because of other commitment elsewhere. At one point, Kaiba had even offered to help with maths where he was excelling and where she was direly lacking, and in exchange she'd helped with the intracises of literary work. Gradually, their relationship had started evolving into that of friends, although "friends" might have been taking too far, at least, it was something close to it. Occasionally, he'd given her ride home, offered to stay for dinner when she'd visit to see Mokuba...

Anzu had shared bits of herself with him, her dream to go to America, which, to her greatest surprise, hadn't found silly at "so long as she worked hard enough towards her ambitions". Kaiba, on the other hand, always seemed to keep her at distance, still addressing her last name, in spite of Anzu giving him permission to address her by her first, rarely sharing anything about himself. Then, one day that she still remembered very well, he'd asked her out. Without any warning or previous signs that he may be interested in her, that way. Needless to say, it had taken completely by surprised. A question to which she had not known what to say and felt a later bit bad for her reaction, but what did Kaiba have in mind? He knew she was to leave for America and that she only took the preparatory classes for university tests so her parents would leave her alone. And why would Kaiba want to go out with her, of all people? Wouldn't he rather date someone from his social class? It wasn't as if he'd ever been short of prospects. And it overall just seemed so out of character. No, she wasn't going back anytime soon.

Yes, Kaiba Seto was a very confusing man.

All of this was in the past, she knew, but as the memories unfolded in her mind, unable to shake the thoughts of that one awkward night, she couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about this impromptu reunion.

"Mokuba isn't here?" She attempted, taking a seat in front of Domino's infamous CEO.

"Punctuality isn't his forte." He replied, barely distracting his eyes from his newspaper.

"But he should be here in a moment. Hopefully."

_How reassuring._ But hopefully, he was right.

"To be frank, I'm surprised to see you here." She continued, in a poor attempt at conversation. It seemed Kaiba had not much improved and changed in the manner's department, judging by the way he looked far more interested in his newspaper than helping at not making this awkward.

"Mokuba insisted."

Was it really?

"Why? Does it bother you?" He asked, with that bluntness that was so characteristical of him, his question yet sounding disturbingly genuine.

"Not really, but…" The question took her by surprise, too. "You barely said a word to me the other day."

"Well, you didn't say much either." She rolled her eyes. It was not as if his attitude had been very inviting to conversation, why should she bear all the responsibility. Granted, the last they'd talked she'd been the one to leave him hanging, but that was ten years ago, he couldn't possibly still be upset about that. And they weren't teenagers anymore, for God's sake!

"Mokuba and you seemed to have a lot to catch upon. I simply didn't want to interfer." He paused, but his lips parted again before she could say anything.

"Look. We don't have to speak, if you don't want to. Just pretend I'm not there." He added.

_Yeah, good idea, Kaiba. Let's just make this more awkward than it already is and needs to be._ Didn't he even get tired of always being on the defensive, though? Did he even have friends these days? A significant other? She wondered.

"I don't believe it should be too hard for you, hm?"

"Seriously, Kaiba?" She breathed a heavy sigh. Was he seriously intent on acting as if she'd been the one to ignore on purpose and started an argument out of it? This man could be impossible sometimes, she'd almost forgotten.

"Did you seriously think I ignore you on purpose the other night? Come on, we're adults now. We're above that kind of stuff."

"On the house." A waiter said, rather discreetly as though not interrupt the flow of their conversation, arriving with two most welcomed glasses of champagne. Though, she was probably going to need a lot more than that, if she was going to have to keep up with him for the rest of the evening.

"So how's life in Paris?" Kaiba threw in casually, taking a sip from his glass, adopting a less defensive tone and attitude to that of he had a few seconds. Maybe this could be a normal, non-awkward, catch up dinner between old friends.

"Different." It was the first word that came to her mind when people asked. Coming here had been quite the cultural shock, for certain. France was literally and figuratively miles away from Japan, but she was slowly starting to adjust. "But it's not too bad. Paris' the best place for ballet. So I guess I'm living the dream, huh?" She said, staring pensively at the large window behind Kaiba.

"Do you miss Domino?"

"Sometimes." She replied, after a brief pause. She'd lie to say she didn't often think of home or that she never humoured the thought of going back, but unfortunately Japan didn't have much to offer for professional dancer, which wasn't so much a career here. The rare opportunities one could get very paid very lowly, it was impossible to make a living out of it there. Anzu had never considered an option when she'd set a mind on pursuing dance as a career. Her dreams had always been overseas, for the best and the worst. Going back to Japan, at this point, would equate to admitting defeat and ruining all the hard work and hardships she had to go through to get where she was. She could already picture her mother rejoicing at the decision, hear her "I told you so", praising "it's not so bad here" with her father quietly approving in the background. Then, she'd have to deal with the stigma of being jobless, without a formal education, being nearly 30 and still unmarried... No, she wasn't going back to Japan anytime soon. Her next visit, as most did, would probably serve confirm Europe wasn't so bad, should any doubts lingered.

"Last I heard you were going to New York? What happened to that?" He remembered that far? She was surprised. So he did really listen, back then. That was unexpected, too.

"America wasn't for me." She shrugged passively, not particularly keen on expending on the New York disaster and being remembered of it. "I wanted to aim bigger, you know." She emptied her glass of champagne, trying to think of a quick way to escape a conversation she didn't want to have.

"But anyway, I wouldn't want to bore you with the boring story of my life." She spoke again, before Kaiba could get a chance to intervene with further questioning. "What brings you here?"

"Business. More specifically, Kaiba Land. As you may have heard, we're opening a park there. In fact I hope you did or my teams may have to re-think our entire communication strategy." He said deadpan. It was hard not to with all the ads all around the city and the metro. And she remembered mentioning their plan to eventually go bigger with Kaiba land and implemented the parks all over the world.

"Of course I have. I'm happy for you guys." She smiled as their gaze met for a brief, silent moment. Unlike hers, Kaiba's life seemed pretty full of successful projects and accomplishments. It was nice hear, though, that was still doing well for himself, in that particular aspect of his life. "When is the grand opening?"

"In one month, but there will be a private inauguration ceremony before that. Would you like to come? I can vouch in."

"Are you asking me out again, Kaiba?" She joked, seeing the mood had significantely soothed between the two of them, but judging by Kaiba's unamused expression, he didn't share in her sense of humour.

_Idiot._

"I was gonna say it'd please Mokuba since he'd contributed to lot of on this project, but whatever."

_Quick, think of something to say before it turns out more awkward._

"Messieurs, dames, are you ready to order?" Again, the waiter's intervention couldn't have been come in a timelier manner.

"Shouldn't we wait for your brother?" She asked tentatively, as the latter still had given no sign of life and Anzu was starting to get little concerned about whether he was very late or if he'd planned on not showing at all. It seemed unlike him, but unlike his brother, he could have changed a fair deal. Strange, still, given his enthusiasm the night before.

"Unless you plain on starving the whole night, I suggest we order now." And what surprised her most was that Kaiba, on the other hand, looked completely disinterested as to where his brother might be. In fact, he looked aggravated, more than anything.

Hesitantly, she reached for the menu on her plate and nearly had a stroke as her eyes ran over the prices.

_Well, okay…_ this place was expensive, as she had imagined it would be, but what she was reading was another whole level of _expensive_. So much for catching up with an old friend. She had much rather stayed home and called it a night, as she had originally planned. This season had wore her out after all. But Mokuba was someone who made it very hard to say 'no' to him and it wasn't every day that an old friend dropped by and surprised her at one of her performances. In fact, it was the first time and it meant more to her than she wanted to admit.

Anzu decided to have the Boeuf Wagyu, if she was going to get bankrupted over a dinner, she might as well make it worthwhile, she decided. After all, she'd had been saving herself the whole day for this dinner and she was starting to feel quite starved.

And Kaiba, being his usual snob self, opted for a Homard dish. That much at least was in-character.

"Well." Kaiba said with a sigh of exasperation, gazing at his phone. "Apparently, Mokuba is not feeling well. He says he won't be coming."

"Really? Is he going to be alright?" Anzu asked tentatively, disappointed and slightly annoyed that Mokuba wouldn't give her a head ups a little earlier. Even if Mokuba was her friend that was still kind of rude.

"He should be." Kaiba responded with a roll of eyes. And she could detect hints of tension in his tone. Had something happened between the two them? She knew asking Kaiba about anything that dwell into personal territories could be double-edge. Given her previous slip, it was probably best not to risk it.

"I guess it's just you and I, then." _Yep._ And now they'd just ordered she was completely stuck with Kaiba and Kaiba alone for the rest of the night, with no way out of this. At one of Paris' most expensive places. From the outside, dinning at la Tour d'Argent with a well-respected and dreamy CEO of a renowned multinational as her 'date' could look like an exciting night, she mused with a certain irony. That was one thing her mother would certainly approved of.

"Quite the deductive mind you have there."

"I know. I could probably teach you a thing or two." She responded with a smug expression on her face.

"That's quite the stance to make. How are your maths skills, Mazaki?" He replied with an equal smug expression. He sure did remember a damn lot about their high school days for someone with such a full life, she noted. It was almost weird.

"Why, aren't you just so funny." Actually, he could be at his own expenses, which made it all the more funny.

"Monsieur Kaiba, would you like to try the wine? This is a very special selection from our wine cellar. A vintage Margaux. The chef thought you might like it." Yet another interruption of the waiter, returning with a bottle of red wine. The staff sure was quick and attentive here, for a place that was actually quite busy.

"I think my friend here would be more suited than I am." He said in what Anzu could objectively deem as rather good French. And if it weren't for Kaiba being Kaiba, maybe she could have found that sexy. Just maybe.

Come to think of it, if he were to down tone the aggressive and stern behaviour a little, he could be a charming man. After all, he was a pretty handsome man. Anzu wondered if he was even aware himself of his attributes. The man was quite popular in high school yet he'd always seemed to be completely indifferent, always keeping to himself, keeping his interactions with his peers to a bare minimum. She also had wondered how he managed to cope with being alone all the time. It was strange how he always kept everyone at a distance while adopting an entire different attitude towards his brother, warm and caring. So clearly, he was capable of nice and friendly with others, if only he would give himself a chance. He'd pretty decent to her on occasion, too, although there was still room for improvement. Funny, how in spite of everything they'd been through during Duelist Kingdom and Battle City, the man was still somewhat of a mystery to her.

"Excuse me." He continued, as Anzu approved of the wine, feeling a bit shameful that she couldn't fully appreciate what was so special about this wine as she didn't really indulge very often, aside from an occasional glass of champagne or crémant. "Do you think it would be possible to have our dishes served soon? My friend's feeling quite tired tonight and she'd like to retire not too late. She's had a rather hectic season at the Opera." Anzu frowned. Was she such poor company he had to come up with a ridiculous excuse to shorten their dinner? At least, he was being subtle about it and not bluntly rude like he could be. Maybe, he did change.

"Certainly. I'll ask for you, Monsieur Kaiba." The young man answered deferentially.

Oh the rich priviledge, Anzu mused amusingly. She often wondered what it felt like to leave in this rich bubble where 'no' didn't seem to be part of the vocabulary. It certainly must have its perks, Anzu certainly wouldn't mind having house personnel to save a tremendous of time and energy in her crazy routine, not having to worry about money, but didn't it get boring after a while? Maybe that was why Kaiba took games so seriously and often went to his way to challenge Yuugi, the one person who could stand up to him and was better at it than him.

"Madame, please." It sure didn't take long until Kaiba's request had been complied with, she noted, humming a plate with delight. It'd been a while since she'd ate red meat and something that didn't include quinoa, a copious amount of vegetables, avocado... Although healthy cuisine had significantely improved in terms of creativity and options, with an increased demand for it, she sometimes missed the time where she didn't have to care about what she'd put in her mouth and what impact it'd have on her body.

As soon as Kaiba's dish was served, the rest of the meal went in an almost religious silent.

By the end of her plate and her fourth or fifth glass of wine - she wasn't too sure - Anzu could feel her head spinning a little. It'd been a while since she'd allowed herself to indulge. Alcohol was strictly prohibited from her diet, far too sugary and high in calories, and with a rather terrible impact on one's performances.

Yet, it felt good to get that little buzz of relaxed euphoria, for the first time in a very long time, to let go of the pressure accumulated over the last few months. It reminded her of the nights at spent Yuugi's with her friends, having grilled meat, with cheap beers bought from the convenient store, laughing, playing cards, speaking of the future until early morning. Man, these days seemed like such a long time ago. When life was easy, when they had a lifetime in front of them, full of dreams. Those were the days, weren't they? Funny, how one can so easily take small moments for granted, she reflected, as cliché as the thought may be.

"Do you want anything else or are we go?" Anzu raised her head, snatched back from her thoughts.

"I'm good." She said, eyeing Kaiba's plate, just finished. He sure wasn't losing any time. Time is money, huh?

"I'll get our coats." He simply said, raising from his chair rather abruptly. Was he that hurry to get away from her? Or maybe, he was just tired from his day. Taking a closer look, he did look a bit exhausted, in a restless manner.

Anzu tried to follow his lead, but with certain difficulties.

_Ouch. _

She might have indulged a little too much, she realised, as her head started spinning, this time twice as hard as before, managing to stand on her both feet, but rather precariously. She grabbed the top of her chair with both hands, in an attempt to stabilise and compose herself. This was the last place where she wanted to make a fool of herself by stumbling, or worse.

"Are you ready to leave or what?" She looked above her shoulder, almost starling as Kaiba seemed to have reappeared out of nowhere. "God, don't scare me like that. But yeah, let's get bill and leave."

"It's already been taken care of. Let's leave."

"What do you mean it's been taken care of? I can't accept, Kaiba. I'm not okay with this." She argued, knowing well she was in for a battle she likely wouldn't win, especially in her state.

"And why not?"

"Well... It just does not seem fair." Being treated had always made her feel a bit weird, as though she couldn't handle herself or that her appearance screamed 'no money'.

"Pour le dérangement." Okay, he really needed to stop doing this.

The constant roll of the eyes, of course.

"Do you really want to argue about this or…?" He had a point and she was feeling quite tired of being odds with him so she might as well surrender with grace.

She couldn't say she didn't feel the slightest sense of relief in the fact that Kaiba had taken care of the bill, though she could pay for her stuff, this was an expense she had been too keen on sparing.

"So, how are you getting back home?" He asked, as the two of them made their way out.

"I'll take the metro."

"Are you sure? My chauffeur can give you a ride. And given your... over-enthusiasm about the wine tonight, I think it'd be best you accept my offer."

"Yeah, I'm sure and I'm fine. I don't need you to baby sit me." She retorted, feeling Kaiba's eyes judgmental on her as she dropped her phone to the floor.

"Okay. Fine. I think I'll take you on that offer." She resigned, helpless in the face of her own misery, knowing she was probably going to regret her decision as her stomach started feeling quiet upset over her drinking.

What's one more bad decisions in her long record of poor judgment.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Anzu woke up with one of the worst hungover she'd had in a while, lying on her bed with her clothes, and even her shoes, still on. What a mess she was. And here she thought she had not been _that bad._

She buried her head in her pillow, in a pitiful attempt to soothe her headache, trying to recall the events of last night, but unsure if she really wanted to.

How had she gotten here in the first place? She remembered getting on Kaiba's car, bits of him walking her to the door holding her arm so she wouldn't fall, struggling to find her keys in her own bag, almost falling as she dropped off his car… As for the rest of her ordeal, well, it was pitch black….

_No, no, no, no… _She mumbled to her pillow.

The knowledge that she'd been in such a state that she needed him to walk her home was already embarrassing enough, but the lack of knowledge on what she might have done or said was even _worse_. Maybe nothing happened, she told herself, painfully aware of how naïve this thought was. Maybe he'd simply walked her to her apartment as she remembered and nothing else had happened. But knowing her tendency to ramble under influence, it seemed unlikely. Though, what were the chances of running into the man again, she tried to reflect objectively. Last night had just been a pure coincidence.

Still... she didn't really like the idea of leaving a negative image, not knowing what she might have done or said, especially after not seeing each other for so long. He'd probably already proceeded to tell his brother all about what a drunk disaster she had been, how couldn't handle herself.

This was a _nightmare_.

"What now?!" She complained with an angry grunt, feeling her phone vibrating next to her pillow.

She grabbed it reluctantly, to see who was calling, not even knowing what time it was.

Unknown Japanese number?

_Oh God._ What if it was Kaiba, she was absolutely not mentally prepared for this type of confrontation. Though, this could as well be Mokuba who hadn't the decency, yet, to properly apologise to her for standing up her last night.

She decided to press answer anyway, knowing well she was playing Russian roulette here.

"_Hey Anzu. How you goin'?_" Okay, this was totally unexpected, but better than she thought.

"Huh. Jounouchi?"

_"Yeah. Sorry, I know this is kinda random and that we haven't talked in a while, but I heard from Mai that you're gonna be back in town next week."_ Oh right, she'd completely forgotten about that, too. Her trip to domino, her flight back that she was supposed to start packing for this weekend.

"_Is this a bad time?_" He asked at her lack of response.

_Oh, not at all. I went to dinner last night with Kaiba, you know that 'bocchan' you couldn't stand in high school, and got a little too wasted that he had to take me home, of which I have little memory of and that I'm trying to remember now. But otherwise, it's a good time._ She mused, with a certain dark humour, trying to imagine her friend's reaction should she tell him the truth. Really, the timing of this call couldn't be more ironic.

"No, sorry, I just woke up. I'm a little hazy." She was quite curious as to the nature of this call. She hadn't heard from him, or any of her high school for that matter, for quite a while. This was quite random, indeed. She hoped it wasn't any bad news or anything.

"N_o worries. It won't be long, international calls aren't included in my phone plan. Anyway, Yuugi's playing in the national tournament next week. Mai said she can get us free tickets, I'm going with Honda and wanted to ask you if you wanna tag along. It could be a pretty good occasion to catch up. And we could go all go have dinner and drinks at my place, afterwards. I've got new place and all now that I really wanna show you guys… So what do you say?_"

"Er." She paused, she wasn't really in the right set of mind to consider his proposal. One awkward situation at a time.

"I don't know, Jonouchi. I have this whole family catch up thing. Not sure if I'll have much time to hang out." She lied. She didn't really like doing this, but she really wasn't sure if it was a good idea accept right away, without proper consideration of the pros and cons. She'd made enough bad decisions for one day.

She hesitated to ask him if Yuugi was aware he'd invite her, but she had absolutely no idea if he'd told Jounouchi what happened between them and if he didn't, it would probably raise question on Jounouchi's side.

"_…Okay. Well, It's cool if you can't. I mean, I get that you probably wanna catch up with your folks and stuff, first. Just thought it'd be cool to be all together again, y'know, like in the good ol' days. Been a while since we saw you around. Let me know if you change your mind. The door's open._"

Anzu felt silent for a fleeting moment, detecting a hint of disappointment in his tone. The good old days were long gone, as much as she wished she could go back to those days, at times. And the whole Yuugi drama aside, she wasn't sure how she felt about reminiscing about those good old days, then going back to being pretty much estranged. What if they all no longer anything in common, nothing to say to one another?

"You know what, it's fine. I'll go." She still had time to figure out the Yuugi situation, after all. And she didn't want to be unfair to Jounouchi. Maybe it could do her some good to hang out with other people than her parents back in Japan, and people who used to be true friends. Something she lacked direly these days.

"Sweet! I'll tell Mai to get you a ticket. Well, see you then. Can't wait to hang out with you guys!"

No, he doesn't know, she realised as she hung up the phone. If Jounouchi knew anything of what had happened with Anzu and Yuugi, he would have likely sided with Yuugi. Though Anzu had never been jealous of their friendship and had been happy for Yuugi to have guy friends, she sometimes felt left behind. And Jounouchi's and Anzu's respective, original diverging opinions of Atem had sometimes caused tension and friction within the group. Out of her all friends, Jounuchi was probably the one with whom she clashed the most, albeit not that often. In spite of his occasional stupid remarks or behavior, Jounouchi didn't take shit from anyone, something Anzu very much liked about him, but inevitably led to clashes, as it was a trait they had in common.

She wasn't too sure what Jonouchi was up to these days. But he sounded like he was doing alright at least, that was nice to hear. It was strange, how group so close such as theirs, with everything that been through together, seemed to have drifted away over the years. She supposed it was the natural course of life. Everyone had taken their own paths. But she often humoured the thought of what her life could have been, had she stayed in Domino, gone to college as her parents wanted her to. Would it be much different? Probably.

Though, she could not ignore the fact that Atem's absence had taken quite the toll on them, particularly Yuugi who had pretty much been the cement holding their group together, and the one to bring everyone together in the first place. But on her, too, as much as he hated to admit and reflected upon it; If she had known better, learned to cope with her own grief and sorrow in better ways, being a real friend to Yuugi, she probably wouldn't find herself in this whole predicament with her friend, or rather, ex-friend.

But for now, she had other preoccupations to worry about. She had a place to clean, clothes to wash, a suitcase to pack and a massive hungover to deal with.

* * *

"So how was last night, huh?" Mokuba asked with a rather sneaky expression on his face that Seto didn't like one bit, but he'd expected his brother to be pressing for details about his dinner with Mazaki. Of course, first thing in the morning. Seto wasn't exactly a morning person. He very much preferred staying up late to do his work than wake up before dawn. Night time had always been his personal favourite, it was quiet and when his brain happened to be the most productive and inspired. Most of what he'd considered his most brilliant dueling strategies or technology were the fruit of night work and brainstorming.

Mornings, on the other hand, he needed at least two or three cups of coffee until he could function and tolerate any kind of social interactions. In that regards, he was the polar opposite of his brother whose energy sometimes overwhelmed him. Just like this morning.

"Seems like you recover pretty quickly." Seto responded, watching his brother literally devouring his breakfast. Food poisoning had apparently not deterred his appetite. Another point where the Kaiba brothers diverged, while Seto preferred to keep his meal light and relatively healthy as to avoid the aftermath of long, sleepy digestion, his brother's stomach was a bottomless pit and had a strong affinity with junk food.

"Don't try to change the topic. I asked you a question." Seto could detect hints of taunt in his brother's voice. Did he really sound like that?

But as for his brother's original question, Seto wasn't sure of the answer himself. Let's see, while Mazaki had been decent company, she'd also made a tasteless joke in reference to their past, almost threw up in his car, and the entire vibe of the dinner had been rather awkward. Their exchange had been pretty shallow and unsubstantial, which was a bit strange, considering Mazaki had always been a pretty chatty and transparent kind of person. Something he used to like about her, her spontaneity and honesty. Yet last night, she seemed like a different person, dodging and avoiding the questions when asked about her new life.

"It was okay." He decided that could be one way to put it.

"And?" But as expected, his brief summary of the night didn't suit his brother.

"Had to take her home because she had too much wine?"

"That's pretty sweet of you."

"I'm not a complete asshole. It was the decent thing to do." An asshole, he imagined that was what Mazaki probably thought of him. Why she'd rejected him in high school without so much of an explanation and then completely ditched him as though they were strangers. Seto was well-aware he could be harsh sometimes, at least now he was, but for some reason he just couldn't help it. He often envied Mokuba for being so at ease in his interactions with others, being able to feel comfortable with them and being himself, without fear of judgment.

"No one's calling you one… But sometimes, you can be a little… extra?" Seto rolled his eyes, extra. That seemed to be Mokuba's favourite word to describe him and he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

"You did call me one once, for the record." Seto glared at Mokuba.

"Oh my God. You're still going on about that. It was years ago." His brother tapped his forehead with his palm.

"I'm not." Seto interrupted before this escalated into another unnecessary argument. He wasn't certainly one to live in the past, unlike most people. "I'm just pointing out facts."

"Yeah, sure are."

"Anyway, is she okay? We should probably text her or something."

"You do that." Mazaki probably didn't want to hear from him, given how bother she looked by his presence that she had to drink herself to making it tolerable. And Seto didn't really want to deal with the embarrassment of being left on read, looking like that pushy moron who couldn't take a hint. In this case, Mazaki had been the one to push away, and while it had pained a little back in these days - as much as he hated to admit -, he was not going to go out of his way to reach out to people who didn't want him in his life.

"I believe you owe her a proper apology for last night. And while you're at it, could you kindly ask your friend to delete you those 'wild night in Paris' pictures from Facebook, should Mazaki or the press see it." He continued, making quite sure that this did not come across as a request.

"How do you even-?" Mokuba interjected, dropping his fork. "You're doing it! Again. You're unbelievable! You just can't fucking help yourself, can you?"

"Not like you're giving much of a choice since you won't accept any professional supervision to run your accounts." No, Seto really wished he had another choice than asking his PR team to monitor his brother's activity on social media, against Mokuba's attempt at making them 'private'.

A private social media account, what a profound naïve and contradictory notion. Unfortunately, Mokuba still seemed not to know any better. While from a strict marketing and communication perspective, Seto found social media to be highly useful medium, he could not understand the need of most people and their derived sense of self-importance to advertise from the most significant to the most private details of their lives on such plate-forms. He wasn't sure what was worst, the people who found it interesting to advertise what they had for breakfast or those who deem it worthy and interesting content through likes and comments. Digital era could be so ever ridiculous sometimes.

"My God. Just chill out. It's just two pictures of me and my friends." Mokuba argued, raising his eyes.

"At some dubious night club, with expensive bottles of champagne standing in the middle." Seto corrected.

"And I thought I made myself very clear that I don't want you to associate with a bunch of obnoxious spoiled brats. They're bad influence and bad press." He continued, keeping his tone contained and firm. Seto had worked too hard over the years to cultivate image of a scandal free, diligent and hard working business man to see it blow, by bunch of party pictures taken by a bunch of entitled kids who had nothing to do better with their time than throw away hard won money like it was nothing.

"How do you think VP of Kaiba Corp. blowing money on Dom Perignon in Paris, with his hashtag 'rich kids of Instagram' friends would sound like for a publicity for amusement parks for underprivileged children?"

"Seriously?! Are you for real?!" Seto nearly cringed. He really didn't like it when Mokuba took this tone.

"Does it look like I'm joking?" He sure hoped not.

"You can drive around the city with mazzerati and a chauffeur and spend millions on a dragon jet, but I can't have one picture at a party with my friend because it does not align with Kaiba land's brand image?"

"There is a substantial difference between spending money on necessaries resources on, for instance, reliable and advanced means of transportation that allow me to save a tremendous amount of time, and per se money, that I can then dedicate to business and between wasting it away on mindless parties. There is also a difference between owing expensive goods as per advertising your wealth on social media to look cool. Public image isn't about mere appearances, it's also about attitude." He couldn't believe he even had to explain such a simple thing to Mokuba, when they had gone through this topic countless times, and the implications of his brother's statement.

Seto hadn't spent a lifetime and many sacrifices to build an empire to recklessly blow his hard-won money. If he were anything like Mokuba was currently accusing him to be, they'd likely be bankrupted by now. Clearly, his friends' attitude and behaviour already seemed to have rubbed off on him. At this point, Seto was no longer sure how he was to deal with this situation.

He'd considered several times to cut his brother's allowance, to teach him a lesson about life and the value of money, but that would contradict with his original ambition to build a secure future for his little brother, where he would not lack in that department. Besides, financial pressure could have a very negative impact on his Mokuba's studies success. At this rate, Mokuba wouldn't be prepared for the real world. While Seto never really had any intentions of grooming Mokuba to take over him, this would be far too much responsibilities and pressure, and lacked the cold pragmatism and firmness it took to run a company like theirs in a world of greedy sharks, he'd at least hoped that he could take on functions such as Chief Operating Officer, after his graduation. As to, at least, preserve the heritage and spirit of the company, in some shape or form.

"Oh. Spare me the grand lectures. Man, it's way too early for this." He complained with a grimace.

"Mokuba, that's enough."

"Yeah, you're right, Seto. I've had enough of this shit, of you trying to police my damn life. Of Kaiba corp this, Kaiba corp that. Can't we have one conversation that doesn't resolve around the goddamn company or work?" Mokuba paused briefly, his elder wondering where all that cursing that made his ear bled was coming from.

" Man, look at you, Seto. You're not even 30, and you've had several burns out. We barely spend time together anymore or share anything together, unless it is about, well, Kaiba fucking Corp. Or you lecturing me. Try, Seto. I really, try, but I can't take it anymore. You really need to learn to stop before it kills you." Mokuba finished, while Seto watched, at loss of words, unsure wasn't where he'd messed up. They'd had heated argument before, but this seemed to be escalating into something entirely new.

"Where are you going, Mokuba? We have details to go over regarding the national tournament."

"Well, you do that, Seto. I'm out. Don't worry about me. I'll take a commercial flight back to Japan. You take care of yourself." Mokuba finished as he made his way out of the room.

Seto sighed, hesitating to follow his brother, but from experience, it usually made things worse. Besides, the few people that were all seemed to be staring at them, he didn't want to make this public scene worse than it was.

Absent-mindedly, as he watched his brother leave, completely powerless and helpless, he hailed the waiter.

"I know it may be a bit early, but could I have a gin and tonic?"

"Certainly, sir."

Seto already knew he was in for a long journey back to Japan and self-introspection of where did it all go wrong.


End file.
